Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Clive Palmer, the Australian mining
magnate-turned politician who this week labeled his Chinese
business partners “mongrels,” attacked the response by state-owned media and said he didn’t intend to insult the nation.

The Global Times newspaper hit out at Palmer and called for
sanctions against him and his companies after he accused China
of trying to take over Australia’s resources.

The newspaper’s claims were incredible and put “into
perspective the level of China’s strict communist rule,”
Palmer, whose nascent political party effectively holds the
balance of power in Australia’s Senate, said in a statement.
“It is an extraordinary reaction to my television comments,
which were in no way directed at the Chinese people or the
Chinese government.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government and business
leaders rounded on Palmer earlier this week, saying his comments
risked undermining Australia’s relations with its biggest
trading partner. The millionaire is embroiled in a long-running
legal dispute with Citic Pacific Ltd., which has alleged he used
funds from a joint account to help finance his political
campaign.

Appearing on the Australian Broadcasting Corp.’s Q&A
television show on Aug. 18, Palmer denied Citic’s allegations,
calling them “Chinese mongrels.”

“I’m saying that because they are communists, they shoot
their own people, they haven’t got a justice system and they
want to take over this country,” Palmer said.

In the statement today, Palmer said his comments were
directed solely at Citic, his partner in the world’s biggest
magnetite iron ore mine in Western Australia.

“It is a disagreement I have with Citic Pacific alone, not
the Chinese people or the government,” he said. “I have high
regard for all Chinese people having spent much of my life
working with them. I deeply regret if any of my comments have
caused offense to any person.”